McKechnie, Ruffelle, Etc. Set for London Over Here Revival

Over three decades after opening on Broadway, the nostalgic 40s-set musical Over Here will be jumping across the pond this November to open in a new West End production with Donna McKechnie among its stars.

With a score by the Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman (Mary Poppins, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) and a book by Will Holt, Over Here will open at a theatre to be announced, according to Whatsonstage.com. Specific dates have also not yet been announced.

A "nostalgic journey across World War II America at the height of the big-band era," Over Here will star Tony Award-winner McKechnie (Company, A Chorus Line) and Diane Langton (Mary Poppins, A Little Night Music, A Chorus Line in London) as the dePaul Sisters (think Andrews Sisters), who are on the look-out for a third member of their singing group while on a New York-bound train. Tony Award-winner Frances Ruffelle (Les Miserables, Chicago in London) will play Mitzi, a Nazi spy who "weaves top secret codes into the new group's musical arrangements."

Also in the cast will be 17 year-old Richard Fleeshman (winner of the UK's "Soapstar Superstar," "Coronation Street"); he will play a soldier on the train. Over Here will be directed and choreographed by Tony Stevens (Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life, Wind in the Willows). Presented by Swingtime One Ltd., show will feature an 18-piece big band. It will be designed by Christopher Hone, with lighting by Shane Lomman and musical supervision by David Barber.

Over Here opened on March 6th, 1974 at the Shubert Theatre and ran for 341 performances (legal issues forced an early close although it was the box office hit of that theatre season). The show, which starred Maxene Andrews and Patty Andrews as the DePaul Sisters, also featured Ann Reinking, John Travolta and Marilu Henner in its cast. Janie Sell won a Tony Award for her performance, while the show itself received four other nominations, including Best Musical.